Mentoring: The crucial catalyst to build women leadership

Mentoring is a two-way street where both are benefited as mentor gets wiser while mentoring and mentee gets more knowledge, says Pooja Chatrath, Vice President - IT at Cryoviva India

It’s crucial for women in the workplace to have role models. For women to be more empowered in the workplace, it’s crucial to have mentors where women can learn from each other. Women are in need of mentors in order to gain the proper skills, learn how to build a wide network, access to role models and ultimate career success.

For example, if you have a women mentor, she can first of all teach other women the fore most important thing that how to communicate effectively. Related to their own effective examples one can teach there is a solution for every problem -- that problems are just projects in disguise, waiting to be solved...

Mentors are a critical part of both professional and personal development. Everyone is glued to their screens nowadays. We often forget the art of in-person communication, which is essential to be a strong leader. Studies have shown that women with mentors are more likely to be successful than those without. A mentor provides professional guidance and shares knowledge and advice with their mentee. Mentoring relationships have many long-lasting benefits and can offer opportunities that women previously may not have had. Mentorship can help an employee feel less isolated at work as well as encourage her to interact more with others.

Women oftentimes directly benefit the most from mentorship programs because it contributes most significantly to our employment retention. Oftentimes women indicate that the presence or absence of a supportive mentorship program is what ultimately drives their decision either to remain within their organization or to leave.

Mentorship can also help women build networks. Our male counterparts can be especially skilled at this because they tend to have access to vaster networks. In addition, men negotiate differently than women. Your mentor can teach you strategies to have these skills that help you improve your methods for a successful outcome. Some women feel more comfortable when they know what they are negotiating for, what the parameters are, or who they are negotiating with. While men tend to be logical and practical where it comes to making decisions, women draw on both logic and their emotional intelligence skills (emotions) when it comes to making decisions and leading a team. When women choose women mentors, they receive the practical and emotional advice and support they need. From toxic workplaces to confidence issues, women mentors are great at addressing and validating the emotional aspects of decision-making that many women face in their work lives.

So, mentoring is a two-way street where both are benefited as mentor gets wiser while mentoring and mentee gets more knowledge.